Tipping a haidresser in the UK vs the US

Don't you worry about it being stolen? Just in case, I wanted to clarify I don't mean that in a rude tone in the slightest (i know sometimes it can be hard to tell via text). I'm just fascinated because around here, i don't even live in a bad town or anything, it would most likely be gone with no guarantee the person it was intended for got it. I'd be afraid most about the money more than the beer.

Not around here. It's a lovely little quiet village and is very safe. We don't let the riffraff in. 

I know in the US the tipping is much bigger than the UK, but normally I go by the rule that if the person doing your hair is not the owner of the Salon then you tip them around £2. This is also presuming you like the cut.

When I visit the US I am shocked at how much people tip their hairdressers but then I presume this is because they do not get the minimum wage like they do in the UK?

I also find that tipping culture in general whether in the UK or US is very uneven.  For example I used to work in an amusement arcade helping people count their tickets for prizes, unjamming the machines for them, getting them tokens and change etc.  I was never tipped and no one expected that I should have been.  Yet the barstaff who worked on the other side of the room all had silver tip trays out.  I couldn't see how making a drink was any different to what i was doing, and I was on £3 an hour at the time. 

There are many places where people deserve a tip but it just isn't seen as a profession that you tip.  Which is why, in many ways I support higher wage policies rather than a tip to supplement earnings culture.

Tipping is definitely different in the UK. I've learnt to reduce my inclination to tip like an American.  This has been through trial and error and being corrected by British friends several times for leaving far too much. 

-barber - a quid or two for a £12 haircut.
-Restaurants without service charge - 10%
-taxis - I round up to a pound for average service.  Give a little more if they were direct and speedy.  Give nothing if they go out of their way and run up the meter due to my accent.  ;-)
-food delivery - the change or a couple quid depending how much their carried.
-barmen - this is the trickiest one for me.  I have been brutally scolded by British friends for even leaving 50p, "don't tip them, it's their job".  But I have a mate who's a barman, and he says that tipping will get me preferred service, and it's appreciated.  So, I tip at my local, a couple quid upfront, and I get quick and friendly service and I am always remembered when I come in.  He's right! 

Often people say tipping culture is too "American".  It does seem more prevalent to me even since living here in the UK. 

I just run outside really early in the morning (6-ish) and leave some beer with a big red ribbon and a card with cash in it on top of our bin.

Where do you live again?

I was in a small restaurant with my cousin in Yorkshire and I tipped the owner and my cousin said I had insulted him. He had taken time to give me some directions that were very helpful and so I wanted to show my appreciation. Thinking back I guess it was an insult. Not intended.

America is different. I saw people in Las Vegas who went home at the end of 8 hours or ? and they had made no money in wages or tips. So sad. They had taken the job as a limousine chauffeur to tied them over because they had no income and in this case they had to put out for the cost of getting to work and then the employer took money from them for some medical insurance even though they hadn't signed up for it. To me this was rock bottom. I may ad the employer had got around the minimum wage law. I don't know how these people didn't become suicidal. I know one fellow who was so broke that he moved in with his ex-wife and her boyfriend. It was that or live on the street.
I digress. Sorry.

Where do you live again?

Cornwall.

Cornwall.

I guess you know that was a joke

-taxis - I round up to a pound for average service.  Give a little more if they were direct and speedy.  Give nothing if they go out of their way and run up the meter due to my accent.  ;-)

OH JEEZ! Does that actually happen!?!

OH JEEZ! Does that actually happen!?!

Yes, it's happened to me a number of times.  Once you learn the streets of London, it's painfully obvious when they're running up the meter.  It seems to be more prevalent with taxi drivers in older and run down cabs, lol.   Some lessons learnt:
- Avoid getting a taxi near a major tourist attraction
- A nicer and well kept taxi usually means a more professional driver
- I always say "take me to my flat where I live at...."  I make it clear that I live here in the initial conversation.  Or I say something like "drop me off at the rear of the destination on such and such street" in order to show familiarity with where I'm going.
-Ask about the route they plan to take when in doubt.  Or something like "oh, is there traffic?  Most drivers go down such and such road". Some drivers get testy with this question, but oh well. 

OH JEEZ! Does that actually happen!?!

Of course it does, it happens to everyone who they suspect is a tourist or doesn't know about London geography. I normally tell them the route I want them to go in a nice way.

" What do you reckon? Use the Westway but get off before Shepherd's bush green at this time of day?"

It's been a bit since the last post, but one trick I learned in New York was to give addresses or "corner of ____ and ____" type references rather than landmarks. Landmarks tend to mark you more as a tourist.

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You have to remember that in the UK the minimum wage is pretty decent and when you pay for your haircut/drink/ride home etc, the money you hand over goes to paying the wage which is already significantly higher than that in the US. Think of it as the tip is already included in the same way that sales tax is already included in a UK price tag and is not added at the till like in the US. There is no need to pay somebody twice in the UK, which is what giving a tip actually is doing.

Indeed there has been much discussion about why we tip wait staff in the UK (the only profession where tipping is normal and expected), what makes them so different to other service professions. Nobody seemed to be able to come up with an answer for that!

Not much tipping goes on in the UK, I wouldn't bother unless you are truly impressed and want to give her something.

I asked DW about this - she said when she first came over she tipped and the hairdresser was genuinely surprised. It took her a while to get out of the habit of tipping but she's happy to go along with the local custom!
So now she just tips hairdresser at Christmas and rounds up the taxi fair from the station just because she uses them a lot.

I'm a hairdresser, I lived in the USA 11 years and would normally tip my hairdresser over there 15-20% because she was good and self employed (renting a chair in a salon). Over here, I have a couple of friends who are hairdressers cut/color my hair for free (and vice versa).

Hairdressers in the USA are the same as in the UK............some are employed on a minimum wage basis and some are renting a chair.  In fact most in the USA are self-employed now, renting chairs, finding salaried positions is getting harder in the USA. 

In the UK salaried positions for already qualified hairdressers are getting less and less, it is more common now for hairdressers to be self-employed.  I just got offered a job recently renting a chair at £150.00 per week (+ now the government is adding 20% VAT to the chair rental price which is ridiculous).  That is quite a cost to put up front before even taking in clients.  I would have to have back to back clients to make any kind of salary.  They always advertise "Earnings equivalent to NMW (National Minimum Wage)", you can always earn more with more clients but it will take years to build up a big client list.  You can see why I can't do it.  I either need a salaried job and build up my clients that way and then take those clients to a new job renting a chair or build up clients as a mobile hairdresser which is what I am doing now.  As a mobile hairdresser I charge less than a shop as you (the client) won't have the same experience as in a salon obviously but I have to buy all my own products and pay for gas etc.. getting to a clients house. 

It is up to you if you want to tip..........I would not tip a salaried hairdresser but I would tip a self-employed hairdresser.  They are no different to the self-employed hairdressers in the USA.  During your conversation you can ask whether they have to rent their chair or not to find out whether you should tip.  I would also tip the mobile hairdresser as they also have a lot of up-front costs that a salaried hairdresser doesn't, also the self-employed hairdresser has access to all the products in the salon. 

Us mobile hairdressers are worth checking out, we are (most of us) qualified (not all salon hairdressers are believe it or not, you actually don't have to be qualified or licensed in the UK to cut hair).  I would also ask your mobile hairdresser (or salon HD) if they are qualified (either NVQ Level 2 or NVQ Level 3 of which I am) and if they have liability insurance, any good HD will have at least one of those but hopefully 2 or better yet all 3 :-).  I have had my hair cut in the UK by an unqualified (salon apprentice) hairdresser who was essentially being trained by the salon, I was not impressed, no H&S training and only trained to the standard of the salon owner who may have out dated skills.  I have also NEVER had a skin test or a consultation (finding out about lifestyle, allergies, desired service etc..) when I have been in a salon (here in the UK & in the USA) for hair color/cut, I find that really shocking.  I will always routinely do a skin test and consultation.  You can actually die from having your hair colored believe it or not, I would never risk that.  Mobile hairdressers rely on word of mouth only so it is important to keep our clients happy & safe, we are more likely to go on courses (out of our own pocket) to keep our skills up to date.  These are just a few things to ponder.